by the ethological research being carried out by Sosis and Alcorta in ‘Signaling,
Solidarity, and the Sacred’ (2003); Sosis and Eric Bressler, ‘Cooperation and
Commune Longevity’ (2003); and Bulbulia, ‘Religious Costs as Adaptations
that Signal Altruistic Intention’ (2004). Practitioners of the economics approach
are likely to resist bringing in other disciplines, as this will dilute the rigor of
their analyses; but, as already pointed out in the case of cognitive science, if
one’s aim is to elaborate a comprehensive theory of religion one may have to
risk endangering the beauty of one’s equations by incorporating evolutionary
theory and other approaches. Reference should be made to several articles in
which Robert Ekelund, Robert Hébert, and Robert Tollison approach the
medieval church from an economics perspective (and to their book, The
Marketplace of Christianity, 2006, not yet seen). In addition, historians of
religion are beginning to show interest in the economics approach, as was shown
by a 2006 session of the North American Association for the Study of Religion,
organized by Gregory Alles, in which Iannaccone participated.
Mysticism and the senses
Moving from economics to mysticism may be unexpected, since the ‘mystical’
has been generally considered as the aspect of religion that eludes institutional
constraints or, indeed, as not having anything to do with religion; however,
as Hugh Urban’s translation of the songs of the Bengali KartÇbhajÇs—Songs
of Ecstasy(2001)—demonstrates, Tantric imagery and economic discourse do
not exclude each other. The volumes on mysticism edited by Steven Katz—
Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis(1978), Mysticism and Religious Tradi-
tions(1983), Mysticism and Language(1992), Mysticism and Sacred Scripture
(2000)—have provided a necessary corrective to the uncritical views that tend
to prevail about this most uncertain aspect of religion. But some of the main
components of the position advanced by Katz in 1978 had already been
presented, in English, by Bruce Garside in ‘Language and the Interpretation
of Mystical Experience’ (1972). Moreover, those acquainted with the scholarly
literature produced in Europe since the beginning of the twentieth century
are less likely to have been impressed by the novelty of Katz’ position, as
the realization that experiences are to be understood as being shaped by the
traditions within which they occur has been common knowledge there, for
example, through the contributions of Erich Seeberg (Zur Frage der Mystik,
1921: 41), Henri Delacroix (Les grandes mystiques chrétiennes, 1938: 348ff.),
and Roger Bastide (Les problèmes de la vie mystique, 1931/1948: 199ff.).
As with many components of religion, mysticism can be approached in the
context of a given tradition or from a comparative perspective. After years of
neglect, caused in part by the reaction against the generalizations offered by
authors such as Eliade, the cult of pure difference still prevalent among some
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35
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